I forgot to send one more. Stanley Tucci was nominated for an Oscar for this murder mystery with a fantasy twist.
The Lovely Bones (Saoirse Ronan, Mark Wahlberg, Stanley Tucci, Rachel Weisz, Susan Sarandon) – Lord of the Rings Director Peter Jackson crafted a murder mystery/thriller/fantasy about a 14-year-old girl (Saoirse Ronan of Atonement) who is killed by her creepy neighbor (Stanley Tucci), then tries to help her father (Mark Wahlberg) find the killer from her perch in the “in-between,” that universe between earth and heaven. Everything about the movie has been done before but Jackson combines the genres to create a film that is oddly compelling and tense. For me, the journey of young Susie Salmon from the scene of the crime to heaven was contrived in its computer graphic-ness with too much symbolism. My interest was in the murder and the search for the killer in the green house. Tucci, who is one of those actors who can play comedy, drama, farce, evil or scary with equal aplomb, keeps the audience engrossed while Marky Mark Wahlberg makes a convincing obsessed, grief-laden father. His wife is played by Rachel Weisz, a wonderful actress who is completely wasted here as is Susan Sarandon, who plays the perpetually dunk grandmother brought in to keep the family centered. Based on the book by Alice Sebold, The Lovely Bones is an engrossing two hours with too much going on.